Kulgam/Jammu, Dec 25 : Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday confirmed the killing of two Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants during a gun battle.

Acting on tip-off, army and local police cordoned off Dodhipora village, around 65 kilometres from Srinagar to nab the militants on Monday.

During the combing operation, the hiding extremists fired at the search party, leading to exchange of fire.

Inspector General Police, Kashmir Range, S M Sahai, said both of them were involved in a recent attack on a hotel in Srinagar in which two lives were lost.

"Two militants were from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group and their names were Tamim, who came from Pakistan and the other was Mudasir Ahmad Shiekh, who was a resident of Yamrach village near Kulgam.

"We were looking for Mudasir from last one year and he was involved in many criminal incidents like attacks on police and killing of policemen. His recent biggest attack was the one Silver Star hotel; both of them were part of the militant group present in the hotel at the time of attack. This is a big achievement for us," said Sahai in Jammu.

According to media reports, a head constable was also killed in the encounter.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC), Victor Force, Major General RR Nimborkar said this would be a big set back for the LeT group.

"It''s quite certain that LeT will get a setback in this part of Kashmir because as I said earlier, he was the main coordinator for south Kashmir. He was involved in giving the money, he was involved in recruitment and he was also involved in planning the terror activities that were carried out in south Kashmir," said Major General Nimborkar.

LeT, one of the largest and best-funded Islamic militant organizations in the region, is blamed for the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai, which killed 166 people in India''s commercial capital. (ANI)